Wednesday, January 05, 2011

You Can't Unsee Something - Apples of Gold - January 5, 2011 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 5, 2011

“You Can’t Unsee Something”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

As soon as I had my driver’s license I began driving myself to the movies. 

I saw all the hits, many of them scary.

I saw one scary movie where something terrible happened to someone while they were watching a movie.  For years after that, every time I sat down in a theatre I thought of that scene and took a good long look at the people sitting around me.

In one movie, something terrible happened to someone while they walked between two cars.  After that just walking between parked cars gave me the willies. 

I saw a lot of things that I would have been better off not seeing because they went into my brain and influenced my thinking, and not for the good.  And I still remember those things vividly decades later because, get this, you can’t “unsee” something.

A man told me one time that he had viewed a lot of pornography as a young man.  With the Lord’s help, he said, he had kicked the habit, but he had a problem.  All those images were still in his brain.

That’s because you can’t unsee something. 

Yes, I believe God does miracles, renews minds, sets us free, and a host of other wonderful things.  And He can make us forget things we’ve seen if He has a mind to.  But we are responsible for what we allow ourselves to see, and barring a miracle, those things will be with us for the rest of our lives.

So here is the point.  Since you can’t unsee something, be careful what you allow yourself to see in the first place.

My wife teaches seven year olds, and they are always piping up and saying funny things.  The other day one of them blurted out, “I know you might laugh, but I’m a second grade boy who thinks he’s not ready to see Harry Potter.”

Now he may not know it, but that young man is onto something.  He senses that he shouldn’t be watching Harry Potter, so he isn’t. 

Now what could happen is peer pressure might kick in, and he might be teased to the point of watching; and it may or may not have an adverse affect on him – but what if it does?  What if he finds himself afraid because of things he’s seen?  It would have been better if he hadn’t seen them at all, but guess what? 

You can’t unsee something.

My daughter reminded me the other day of our family’s visit to a wax museum a few years ago.  She said there was a scary section and we, the parents, wouldn’t let the kids go in. 

Why not?  Because we didn’t want to put things in their head that they couldn’t get out.  We didn’t want to plant seeds of fear in our children.

A woman called me here at the radio station the other day.  She said her grandkids were over and they wanted to watch The Simpsons.  She said no, and they said, “Aw Grandma, it’s just a cartoon.” 

It may be a cartoon, but it features a smart-mouth little boy behaving badly, and this grandmother didn’t want to plant those seeds in the minds of her grandchildren.

There is a wonderful little children’s song that says, “Be careful little eyes what you see.” 

“Yes, Doug, that’s for children.  But don’t you think children need to grow up eventually and be exposed to things?”

Oh, do you think “be careful little eyes what you see” is only for children?

Let’s take a look at what King David said.  In Psalm 101 he declared that he would set no vile thing before his eyes.  He would look at nothing wicked or perverse or vulgar.

When I was in driver’s ed, we were taught that the direction you look is the direction you go.  That applies to life in a lot of ways.  Where we look is where we tend to go, so it’s important to control where we look.

“But Doug, isn’t that censorship?”

If it is, so what?  Now some people have this idea that you should take in everything, but I think of it like food.  Yes, some people eat everything, but the healthiest people control their intake.

Listen.  This notion that you have to see everything and try everything is a satanic notion that goes back to the Garden of Eden.  Eve thought the forbidden fruit would make her wise, but instead it brought unintended consequences that she never got over.

You can’t uneat the forbidden fruit, and you can’t unsee something once you’ve seen it.

So beware when browsing the internet.  Watch what you watch on television.  Control what comes in through your eye gate.  Take the stand of King David, to set no vile thing before your eyes.

And you don’t have to rely on sheer grit and will power.  Ask the Lord to help you, to give you wisdom and strength, knowing that He will never allow you into a situation that you can’t handle through Him.

So, in conclusion, it’s important to control things before we see them because, barring a miracle, we can’t unsee something once it’s been seen.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

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